'Tax rules forced me to put my money into the society'

Claire Huddart, 52, of Cumbria, says she had no choice but to place a £6,000 residue from a pensions mis-selling payment into Equitable Life to avoid losing precious tax relief

As a nurse, she has been in the NHS final salary scheme for 33 years. She was persuaded to switch to a Prudential personal pension some time ago but, after the pensions mis-selling review, Mrs Huddart was returned to the NHS scheme at the expense of the person who sold her the pension. However, there remained a residue of £6,000.

In order to retain the tax relief, she was forced to invest it in her employer's additional voluntary contribution scheme, which was run by Equitable Life.

Mrs Huddart's husband, Michael, 61, who has retired, said: "I believe the Government should be held responsible for her losses because she was, after all, following Inland Revenue rules on where she could invest the money.

"There must be lots of people who had residual funds from the pensions mis-selling review and who had to do the same thing."

Related Articles

Mr Huddart, who was in the Royal Marines before turning to farming, believes the company should certainly pursue a case against the Government for compensation, "particularly on behalf of those who had no choice but to join the society".

He added: "We had to fight to get my wife reinstated in the NHS pension fund and now people are still seeing their hard-earned savings go to nothing.

"My wife has been given the opportunity to move but she would have to pay an early exit penalty and she is hesitant to do that. It is a considerable amount of money for her.

"It is utterly wrong for Ruth Kelly, Financial Secretary to the Treasury, to say the Government has no responsibilities in this at all.

"It is high time they were opened up like a can of beans because people are going to end up dependent on state benefits through no fault of their own."